Global markets roiled by US attacks on Syria

Global stocks markets fell on Friday, as investors sought out safe havens such as gold and the yen after US missile strikes on Syria fanned geopolitical concerns.

Wall Street also eased at the start of trading after key US monthly jobs data came in worse than expected, and markets watched the second day of summit talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump.

"News of last night's attack sent shockwaves through the markets, with investors flocking to safety, causing gains in the likes of gold and the yen," said Joshua Mahony, market analyst at IG (Frankfurt: A0EARV - news) trading group.

"A big surge in crude prices overnight were caused primarily by the prospects of an increasing US military involvement in the Middle East."

"The possible threat of geopolitical tensions heightening from the airstrikes has created a risk-off trading atmosphere. It must be kept in mind that participants were already jittery ahead of the Trump-Xi summit and this fresh development may compound to the horrible cocktail of uncertainty," Otunuga said.

Trump ordered a huge assault on an airfield in retaliation for a chemical attack in Syria that Washington blamed on President Bashar al-Assad.

The attack came just hours after Russia warned that there could be "negative consequences" if the US took military action against Syria, which it is backing in a civil war.

The US-China summit is meanwhile taking place after months of accusations by the US tycoon that Beijing was killing US jobs and manipulating its currency.

- Seeking a safe haven -

Also on the agenda is North Korea, with Washington concerned about the country's growing nuclear programme following a series of missile launches, the most recent coming this week.

On trading floors Friday, gold hit a near five-month high at $1,269.53 an ounce.